Chapter 148: Amaterasu!

The heavy cowl of the hood, the stark white hair, and the suffocating, oppressive silence of the elite Rhodes Island Operators standing like shadows behind him… Ch’en wasn’t an idiot. She knew exactly who this imposing figure was, the man who had just effortlessly interrupted their tense standoff.

Swire pressed down on Ch’en with frantic strength, her striped tiger tail coiling like a vice to firmly pin the dragon’s calf to the floor. Suppressing her mounting terror, the feline forced a bright, diplomatic smile. “Long time no see, Doctor. I am Swire, and this is Ch’en from the Lungmen Guard Department. My grandfather and Rhodes Island were once close business partners. We are here this time on behalf of Chief Wei Yenwu to convey his highest regards.”

Terrified that the Doctor might be provoked into burying this poor dragon and tiger duo into the cement foundation of the landship, Swire rapidly blurted out her grandfather’s identity and Wei Yenwu’s backing in a single, breathless sentence.

Ch’en was still gritting her teeth and struggling to rise, so Swire decisively drove a sharp elbow into her partner’s back.

“Ch’en has been spoiled in Lungmen and isn’t quite familiar with the rules of Rhodes Island yet,” Swire continued smoothly. “I heard you visited Yan before. Counting by Uncle Wei’s generation, you are practically our senior.”

As expected of the heiress to the Swire Group, the slick, sharp instincts of a seasoned merchant were on full display. Framing the situation this way completely erased the accusation of cross-border law enforcement, turning Ch’en’s hostility into nothing more than a junior acting spoiled in front of an elder.

The Doctor cast a cool, appreciative glance at Swire but did not answer directly. He simply raised a hand and waved it dismissively.

Amiya stepped forward with perfect tacit understanding. “Let me explain, temporary Operator Swire…”

In this high-stakes atmosphere, any word from the Doctor would sound like a death threat to the panicked little tiger. Having Amiya step in was not only a calculated sign of respect, but an incredibly effective way to de-escalate the tension. After all, Amiya’s reputation was infinitely better than the terrifying mastermind’s!

Hearing her wealthy friend’s subtly trembling voice, Ch’en finally registered just how incredibly dangerous the situation had become. Her rational mind kicked back online, and she slowly relaxed her white-knuckled grip on the hilt of her sword.

Then, the Doctor stood behind Amiya, leaning slightly to the side. Supporting half of his face with one hand, he shot Ch’en a highly deliberate wink from an angle only she could see.

From the perspective of Swire and the Operators, the Doctor wore a deep, inscrutable expression of deep contemplation.

But from Ch’en’s angle…

He had one hand covering his eye in a dramatic, chuunibyou pose. ‘Amaterasu!!!’

Swire had just breathed a massive sigh of relief because her conversational partner had switched to the gentle Amiya, only to suddenly feel Ch’en thrashing violently against her hold once again.

Was this stupid dragon actively trying to drag them both down to the grave?! Didn’t Wei Yenwu explain the stakes clearly before they left Lungmen?!

At this moment, Ch’en felt an overwhelming wave of grievance. Because the Chief was paranoid they would say the wrong thing and offend him, Wei Yenwu hadn’t dared to tell Ch’en a single detail about the Doctor’s terrifying former identity before their departure. He had only repeatedly emphasized that they must be absolutely obedient on the landship and never intervene in other people’s affairs.

It was fine for her to swallow her pride, but was she really supposed to turn a blind eye to the highly dangerous elements wandering freely around Rhodes Island?

Besides, she was acting out of the goodness of her heart, trying to help Rhodes Island eliminate severe security risks! Even if the Doctor was a ruthless beast in human clothing, a cold and heartless tactician, he wouldn’t be twisted enough to kill her over a simple misunderstanding, right?

She was already feeling guilty about being so wary of her childhood friend, so why did the universe twist the narrative to make her look like the unreasonable villain?

For the very first time, Ch’en felt the suffocating darkness and deep injustice of this pharmaceutical company!

And this sense of injustice would only deepen in the days to come, as she learned more about the true nature of Rhodes Island.

On the other side of the room, the negotiation between Amiya and Swire was flowing with smooth, corporate harmony. Amiya, who had absolutely no intention of making things difficult for their guests, used Swire’s own framing to define the standoff as a minor farce. She easily steered the conversation toward Rhodes Island’s hospitality and reception protocols.

“No worries, no worries at all. Your company is incredibly warm, both in its pristine environment and its welcoming atmosphere. We have observed many excellent practices here that Lungmen could learn from,” Swire flattered without batting a single eyelash, perfectly using the standard Yan-style business etiquette. “Especially Rhodes Island’s corporate culture, your core concepts of solidarity and mutual assistance, and your flawless implementation of charity…”

The Doctor, who had just been silently allowing Amiya to smooth over the offense, suddenly tilted his head. He spoke up, sounding mildly intrigued. “Our corporate culture?”

Absolutely zero emotion could be read in those shallow, chilling gray eyes. It sounded like a casual remark, yet it carried the weight of a guillotine.

Unable to fathom the hidden depths of his words, Swire instantly broke out in a cold sweat. What did he mean by that? Was he implying that Talulah was also under Rhodes Island’s absolute protection, and the Lungmen Guard Department shouldn’t dare to target her? Or was this a veiled death threat, warning them to stop snooping around the landship’s secrets?

Amiya, who had been politely exchanging pleasantries, turned her head. She shot the Doctor a very specific look and shook her head slightly.

In response, those terrifying gray eyes dimmed with a flash of disappointment, before returning to a state of bored, eerie calm. He looked exactly like a massive apex predator that had suddenly lost interest in tearing apart its prey.

Amiya turned back, her polite smile unwavering. “Indeed. And we thank you for Lungmen’s generous recognition of Rhodes Island.”

Swire’s sharp instincts screamed that the two leaders had just engaged in a high-level, silent telepathic debate over their fate, and Amiya had barely managed to win. They could still maintain this fragile, terrifying bubble of harmony.

Not daring to gamble her life on when this illusory bubble might burst, Swire grabbed Ch’en—who was completely oblivious to the terrifying psychological warfare that had just occurred—and hurriedly spat out a goodbye, using a fake message from Lungmen as her excuse to flee.

After the feline and the dragon practically sprinted down the hallway…

The Doctor immediately dropped his mastermind posture, turning to Amiya with a deeply aggrieved expression. “They actually praised Rhodes Island’s corporate culture. How on earth did you keep a straight face?”

Weren’t those two Lungmen elites obviously spouting absolute garbage?

Amiya’s little face pulled taut, her exasperation leaking through. “Doctor! No matter how funny you think it is, you absolutely cannot let them see the Rhodes Island Weekly!”

They were formal business partners! It was already humiliating enough that their trashy, gossip-filled tabloid was currently circulating throughout the underground markets of Kazimierz. They absolutely could not let that garbage spread to Yan!

The Doctor slumped his shoulders, looking utterly devastated. He asked one last time, clinging to hope. “Really? Not even a peek?”

Amiya nodded fiercely, her bunny ears rigid. “Really!”

The Doctor stared in silent defeat.

Meanwhile, far away on a completely different front, Wis’adel fired a deafening shot toward the eerily calm sea. The explosive, lingering echo of the Nachzehrer munitions violently stirred up massive layers of crashing waves.

“Come out!”

Her tactical gear had completely crystallized into a stiff, white layer of sea salt under the blazing sun, the result of repeated, violent immersions in the ocean water. Her hair was matted in heavy clumps, sticking messily to her skin and stinging her scalp painfully. Her eyes were densely bloodshot, burning with exhaustion and manic rage.

This was the sixteenth day of their grueling standoff.

Deep beneath the surface of the sea, a mermaid-like figure circled with haunting grace. Her long, dark red skirt dragged through the currents, leaving a trail that looked exactly like blooming blood in the water, making it entirely impossible for the Sarkaz mercenary to judge whether the creature underwater was actually injured or not.

“Ah…”

The singing drifting up from beneath the waves seemed completely tireless. It was soft, beautiful, and deeply ethereal. It had already become the inescapable background music in Wis’adel’s feverish nightmares for several nights in a row.

Once again, the graceful figure attempting to breach the surface was violently forced back down by Wis’adel’s relentless suppressing fire. Having no other choice, the creature dove back into the dark depths, and the maddening stalemate resumed.

One person desperately wanted to surface. The other was guarding the shoreline with lethal, unyielding strictness.

Wis’adel gritted her teeth, her manic grin cracking as she screamed at the empty, rolling sea once more. “Who the hell are you?! Why have I never seen you before?!”

She had absolutely never encountered this terrifying creature in the sea before, so why did her instincts scream with such an inexplicable, deeply unsettling sense of familiarity?

The vast sea remained completely silent to her demands. Only that haunting, ethereal singing never ceased.

[Rhodes’s Note:

Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?

(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!